US Funding Ukrainian Pensions

U.S. SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS SENT TO UKRAINE—WHY?

Newly surfaced federal spending records show direct Social Security payments—totaling millions of dollars—being sent to recipients in Ukraine under retirement insurance programs.

Are American taxpayer dollars funding… https://t.co/HOhIvNYooU pic.twitter.com/RdQAWO7Oze

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 2, 2025

The latest story concerning social security is that the US is sending social security payments to Ukraine through direct deposits. While this may be true, the US has been sending money to fund Ukraine’s government and pension plans for years.

From Grok:

The United States is not directly funding Ukrainian retirement funds or pensions as a standalone program. However, U.S. aid to Ukraine has included significant budgetary support that indirectly helps the Ukrainian government maintain various social services, including pension payments.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. has provided substantial financial assistance to help Ukraine sustain its government operations amid the war’s economic devastation. For example, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and in coordination with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. has disbursed billions in direct budget support. As of mid-2022, USAID reported providing $8.5 billion to help Ukraine cover essential functions, such as salaries for civil servants, healthcare workers, and first responders, as well as social assistance programs that include pensions. A specific USAID report to Congress noted that, by November 30, 2022, $4 billion of this budget support had been spent on pensions, though this was part of broader economic aid, not a targeted pension fund initiative.

The $95 billion aid package passed in April 2024, which included about $61 billion for Ukraine, explicitly prohibits using those funds for Ukrainian pensions. Earlier aid packages, however, were less restrictive, allowing Ukraine to allocate U.S. budgetary support to pensions among other priorities. Ukrainian officials have warned that without foreign aid, they might struggle to pay pensions, salaries, and other expenses, as highlighted by Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko in late 2023.

In short, while the U.S. has indirectly supported Ukraine’s ability to pay pensions through general budget assistance in the past, it’s not accurate to say the U.S. is specifically funding Ukrainian retirement funds as a distinct policy. Current aid is focused more on military and humanitarian needs, with explicit limits on pension-related spending in the latest package.

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I suspect Grok will be revising this answer in the near future.

David DeGerolamo